Will Trevor Story actually be back this season?

[Brock Beauchamp]

I was looking into it this evening and saw an article quoting Alex Cora saying he thinks Story will make it back before the end of the season.

 

What is the general consensus elsewhere? Is this a legit thing that might happen? Last I heard, the injury was season-ending and that was that.

 

https://www.justbaseball.com/mlb/trevor-story-kris-bryant-comeback-comparison/

[Maxbialystock]

He said by October, but I think now September is likely. Casas is back, and his injury too was caused by doing something every player must do every game--swing the bat at pitches. Story's injury was from diving for a grounder, which is absolutely require of infielders.

 

No question he would improve the defense at 2b or SS, but can he hit?

[mvp 78]

He has been with the team all season and typically sits by Cora. I think it would be a nice morale booster for the Sox considering how much time he spent in the offseason working with the other guys. He took a long time to rehab last year so it's really hard to say if he'll make it back in time. Maybe the last week or two? Maybe?

[Bellhorn04]

It'd be nice, but probably not impactful.

[mvp 78]

I'll go out on a limb and say he returns on 9/20 for the Twins series and gets in 8 of the final 9 games. Starts the season with 8 games and finishes the season with 8 more. Is that kismet?

 

Sox should still be in it at that point, so it'll probably be all hands on deck. His k% will go back above 35% and he sneaks in one HR.

[notin]

It'd be nice, but probably not impactful.

 

… unless opponents hit the occasional ball to shortstop…

[Bellhorn04]

… unless opponents hit the occasional ball to shortstop…

 

Yeah, his defense will be good as always, and his offense will probably be horrific, especially with such a coat of rust on it.

[moonslav59]

I would not assume his offense will be horrific, but it could be pretty bad, to start off. I wonder how much rehab he will get before being called up.

 

If we are out of it, we may decide to not risk another injury and just let him do light rehab with Woo.

 

His .681 OPS w BOS is not far from the league average, now.

[vegasbob]

I'll go out on a limb and say he returns on 9/20 for the Twins series and gets in 8 of the final 9 games. Starts the season with 8 games and finishes the season with 8 more. Is that kismet?

 

Sox should still be in it at that point, so it'll probably be all hands on deck. His k% will go back above 35% and he sneaks in one HR.

 

Interesting take that with 9 to go, Sox might still not be eliminated from the WC chase. If starting pitching can make a next 30 game rebound as seen from Bello and Houck , and KC ever loses a game with Mariners treading water , this could happen.

 

But Criswell will need to rebound, Crawford needs to get into the 6th inning with some effectiveness and the BP , other than Martin/Jansen needs to find themselves.

 

I think it will come down to one team or another hitting a 9-10 Win streak or 9-10 game losing streak. If you look back at almost every opportunity Boston has had over the past 3 months to jump ahead, they have muddled around 2-3 wins/2-3 losses. Never a run of over 5 wins. Draw your own conclusions.

[moonslav59]

Interesting take that with 9 to go, Sox might still not be eliminated from the WC chase. If starting pitching can make a next 30 game rebound as seen from Bello and Houck , and KC ever loses a game with Mariners treading water , this could happen.

 

But Criswell will need to rebound, Crawford needs to get into the 6th inning with some effectiveness and the BP , other than Martin/Jansen needs to find themselves.

 

I think it will come down to one team or another hitting a 9-10 Win streak or 9-10 game losing streak. If you look back at almost every opportunity Boston has had over the past 3 months to jump ahead, they have muddled around 2-3 wins/2-3 losses. Never a run of over 5 wins. Draw your own conclusions.

 

We have not lost 5 straight, either.

 

We've lost 4 in a row- 3 times.

We've lost 3 in a row- 3 times.

 

We've had these winning streaks:

5 twice

4 twice

3 twice

[Brock Beauchamp]

Interesting take that with 9 to go, Sox might still not be eliminated from the WC chase. If starting pitching can make a next 30 game rebound as seen from Bello and Houck , and KC ever loses a game with Mariners treading water , this could happen.

 

But Criswell will need to rebound, Crawford needs to get into the 6th inning with some effectiveness and the BP , other than Martin/Jansen needs to find themselves.

 

I think it will come down to one team or another hitting a 9-10 Win streak or 9-10 game losing streak. If you look back at almost every opportunity Boston has had over the past 3 months to jump ahead, they have muddled around 2-3 wins/2-3 losses. Never a run of over 5 wins. Draw your own conclusions.

 

The Sox are 3.5 games out of the third WC and the Royals have an absolutely brutal stretch coming. I'd be quite surprised if the Sox were completely out of contention with nine to go.

[Maxbialystock]

The Sox are 3.5 games out of the third WC and the Royals have an absolutely brutal stretch coming. I'd be quite surprised if the Sox were completely out of contention with nine to go.

 

You already told us that in a separate thread, so of course some of us ignored you.

[mvp 78]

I would not assume his offense will be horrific, but it could be pretty bad, to start off. I wonder how much rehab he will get before being called up.

 

If we are out of it, we may decide to not risk another injury and just let him do light rehab with Woo.

 

His .681 OPS w BOS is not far from the league average, now.

 

If it's starts off bad, it'll end bad. He won't have much time to turn it around because it's already 8/19 and there's no sign of him rehabbing at WOO yet.

[mvp 78]

Interesting take that with 9 to go, Sox might still not be eliminated from the WC chase. If starting pitching can make a next 30 game rebound as seen from Bello and Houck , and KC ever loses a game with Mariners treading water , this could happen.

 

But Criswell will need to rebound, Crawford needs to get into the 6th inning with some effectiveness and the BP , other than Martin/Jansen needs to find themselves.

 

I think it will come down to one team or another hitting a 9-10 Win streak or 9-10 game losing streak. If you look back at almost every opportunity Boston has had over the past 3 months to jump ahead, they have muddled around 2-3 wins/2-3 losses. Never a run of over 5 wins. Draw your own conclusions.

 

To be out of the WC with 9 to go, they'd have to really fall apart. I think this team is a little different than what we saw out of the previous two versions. I could be wrong though...

[Maxbialystock]

Another great topic by Brock!

 

What does kind of grab me is that Story clearly wants to come back this season and not wait until next year. I think that's because he likes the manager and the players and the clubhouse dynamics.

 

Plus, of course, the Sox are still in it and Story would love to contribute.

 

And that reminds of the way Kelsey Jansen has intruded upon his manager's prerogatives by calling him from the bullpen and saying, "send me in, boss, and I know it's just the 8th inning."

 

I hasten to add that I have gone out of my way to insult both players, Jansen and Story--Jansen because I am still astounded at how effective he is with such a small repertoire (one pitch?) and Story because of the injuries and the weak hitting.

[mvp 78]

The Sox are 3.5 games out of the third WC and the Royals have an absolutely brutal stretch coming. I'd be quite surprised if the Sox were completely out of contention with nine to go.

 

The Sox were 64-58 and 2.5 games back from 3 WC TOR on 8/19/23. They then went 14-26 the rest of the way (9-23 from 8/27 on).

 

They are currently 65-58 and hoping they don't go 13-26. We've seen this dance before!

[mvp 78]

On 8/19/2024 at 12:54 PM, Brock Beauchamp said:

 

The Sox are 3.5 games out of the third WC and the Royals have an absolutely brutal stretch coming. I'd be quite surprised if the Sox were completely out of contention with nine to go.

@Brock Beauchamp, we tried to warn you. KC is trying to hand the WC spot over and the Sox absolutely don't want it. 

What are your thoughts on the Sox collapse this year as an outside observer? For us, this is the third year in a row where they've started planning their golfing trips in August. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

@Brock Beauchamp, we tried to warn you. KC is trying to hand the WC spot over and the Sox absolutely don't want it. 

What are your thoughts on the Sox collapse this year as an outside observer? For us, this is the third year in a row where they've started planning their golfing trips in August. 

I mean, it's just what happens when a team doesn't pitch well. No need to isolate the Sox here; the Royals, Twins, and Sox are all doing their damnedest to miss the postseason, yet two of them are almost guaranteed to make it.

[dgalehouse]

The Mariners, Rays and Tigers are all in the race now, largely due to the the Sox, Royals and Twins struggles. A wild card battle royal, if you will. 

[Bellhorn04]

Trevor was 4 for 5 for the WooSox last night!

[moonslav59]

36 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Trevor was 4 for 5 for the WooSox last night!

He played SS, too. 

A good sign. (He's up to .813, now.)

[vegasbob]

I think it is worthwhile that Story does come back and play this year, if only 10-15 games.  

No question he is part of the 2025 mix at 2B/SS as a  full time player.   He is one of the RH bats that are needed and his fielding skills at MI eclipse the valiant efforts of Rafaela, Valdez, Gonzalez, DHam .

And just wait until Grissom matures into a player, LOL

[moonslav59]

There is still a chance Grissom turns out oaky or better.

(I'm not counting on it, nor should they plan on his comeback.)

[Behindenemylines]

All reports show that Story will return sometime this weekend. It will allow the Sox to see where he is at heading into the off season. The Sox focus should be on pitching this off season, but there remains questions about the middle infield positions heading into 2024. Can the Sox count on either Story or Mayer to be able to stay on the field? Or do they have to go in another direction. What about second base? Can Grissom do the job? Is rising prospect Campbell the answer? Or is the speedy Hamilton part of a platoon? I said at the beginning of the season that on paper this was a .500 team. Sure enough that is where the Sox are. This was a fun team to watch, with a lot of positives coming out of the 2024 season, but there is work to be done if the Sox want to see October baseball in 2025.

[mvp 78]

To make the postseason, they would need to go on a run that they haven’t done all year. Pitching is too tired. Devers is injured. Others are struggling. Less than 1% chance at this point IMO.

[Bellhorn04]

4 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

To make the postseason, they would need to go on a run that they haven’t done all year. Pitching is too tired. Devers is injured. Others are struggling. Less than 1% chance at this point IMO.

Yes, we're a hair's breadth from garbage time.  From having a look at Story and so on.

[moonslav59]

Our biggest hop is that the KCR or Twins go on a massive losing stretch,  and we go something like 13-8. I'm not sure, but I don't think we've gone 14-7 in any 21 game stretch.